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TROUSERS!
Vic and Bob’s Big Night Out was one of my favourite shows on Channel 4 when it first aired in 1990, and it only ran for two series, yet stuck in my brain ever since, with one-liners like “What’s on the end of the stick, Vic?” I watched these shows more times than I cared to remember, and there are so many lines which have stuck in my head since.
But back to the trousers, and if you didn’t realise, denim work-wear slacks are now known as jeans, but more of them in the show.
Add in lots of wordplay, plus “Around about this time of night….”, as in the original series – one of which at that time being, “Around about this time of night, what I like to do is pop a squirrel under a petri dish” (but I won’t give away the new one), there’s Matt Lucas, A First Dates spoof, the variety act in the paddock aka Novelty Island, including Graham Lister, and… oh, Vic, I’ve fallen.
Apart from the change in hairstyles, a lack of “You wouldn’t let it lie!”, the lack of Les – who loved spirit levels but hated chives, and Charlie Chuck, it’s pretty much like this show hasn’t been away. I’d also add that the set’s certainly smaller than it was on Channel 4, and it doesn’t feel quite the same with Vic and Bob sat next to each other (as they did on Shooting Stars, and other shows in the intervening years), since Bob always played the character walking on set, instead. However, presumably they did this on the grounds of continuity.
Either way, it’s a mix of old and new; I hugely enjoyed this, I was hoping this means we get the full series return of Vic and Bob’s Big Night Out… and do you know what? It does! Four new episodes will be filmed next year, although oddly, they’ll be on BBC4, rather than BBC2. Come on, BBC, they need to be on BBC2!
Vic and Bob’s Big Night Out isn’t available to buy on Blu-ray or DVD, but you can buy Both Channel 4 series on DVD. If you missed this, you can watch it on BBC iPlayer for 30 days after transmission.
Score: 8/10
Director: Mat Whitecross
Producer: Lisa Clark
Writers: Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer
Performers: Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer
Additional cast:
Matt Lucas
Victoria Elliott
Vaun Earl Norman
Matt Skillington
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.